Goldeyes Fall Short in Gary

GARY, IN – The Winnipeg Goldeyes lost 6-4 to the Gary SouthShore RailCats at U.S. Steel Yard on Wednesday night.

With the RailCats leading 6-2 in the top of the ninth, the Fish staged a rally that nearly tied the game. With two outs, Jordan Ebert hit a single. It was his third hit of the night, and fourth time on base. Next, Gavin Stupienski crushed a triple to right centrefield. The triple scored Ebert, and was the first of Stupienski’s three-year professional career. Josh Romanski followed up with an RBI single to left, shaving the RailCats’ lead 6-4. Ebert, Stupienski and Romanski were all down to their final strike when they hit base. After relief pitcher Adam Quintana subbed in for RailCats’ Jorge De Leon, Reggie Abercrombie punched a single to right centrefield to put the tying run on base. De Leon proceeded to strike out Tucker Nathans, ending the ball game.

The Fish initially took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Ebert crushed a double to left-centrefield, stole to third base and scored on a grounder into the hole by Romanski. The ‘Cats took the lead back in the bottom half, when Andy Paz extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a two-out, two-run homer to left field.

In the next inning, Colin Willis hit a leadoff single to right field and advanced to second on a single by Tillman Pugh. With two outs, Willis scored on an error by Josh Mazzola to give the RailCats a 3-1 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth Pugh hit another single, and advanced to second on an infield single by Wilfredo Gimenez. Andy DeJesus followed up with a soft 2 RBI single, scoring Gimenez and Pugh.

In the top of the seventh, Mazzola hit a ball just short of a homerun. Pugh ran down the ball to keep the Goldeyes at one. The RailCats added to their lead in the bottom half on an RBI single from Gimenez, scoring Paz.

The Fish managed to put another run on the board in the eighth, when Abercrombie hit a solo shot out of the ballpark for the second night in a row.

Despite throwing nine strikeouts and walking only one, starting pitcher Kevin McGovern took the loss for the Goldeyes. McGovern now leads the American Association in strikeouts, with 110 this season so far. McGovern allowed five runs (one unearned) over six innings. Relief pitchers Jack Charleston and Victor Capellan combined for a scoreless eighth. RailCats starting pitcher Gabe Perez picked up the win, allowing one earned run over five innings. Perez walked one, struck out four and threw 71 pitches. RailCats’ Adam Quintana was credited with the save.

The Fish now travel back to Winnipeg to play the Sioux City Explorers in a three-game series beginning on Friday, Aug. 17 at 7 PM. Tickets for all Goldeyes’ home games are on sale now by clicking here or visiting the box office at Shaw Park.